IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/circec/v5y2025i3d10.1007_s43615-024-00498-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards a Sustainable Solution: The Barriers and Enablers in Adopting Circular Economy Principles for Medicines Waste Management in UK and Kuwaiti Hospitals

Author

Listed:
  • Abdullah Alshemari

    (Arab Open University)

  • Liz Breen

    (University of Bradford)

  • Gemma Quinn

    (University of Bradford)

  • Uthayasankar Sivarajah

    (Kingston University London)

Abstract

The significance of medicines lies not only in their medicinal value but also in their cost, emphasizing the importance of proper utilisation to reduce waste and optimise resource allocation. The transition to a circular economy, which entails shifting from the current ‘take-use-dispose’ model to a closed-loop system, emerges as a pragmatic approach to curbing waste generation. This study therefore aims to identify the enablers and barriers associated with adopting circular economy practices in the management of medicines waste within hospital pharmacies, examining practices in both the United Kingdom and Kuwait. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this research is validated using empirical data gathered through qualitative interviews (Phase one, n = 29) and quantitative questionnaires (Phase two, n = 86). Key themes were identified in the qualitative data and supported by quantitative results, these were: Barriers and Enablers (Cognitive, Structural and Cultural) and CE Practices (Circulation of products and Eliminating waste and pollution). 89% of the total sample confirmed that legislation was a key barrier to CE adoption. Sustainable design of products and packaging was considered a priority by a large proportion of the respondent sample (89%), but technology was seen to be unsupportive in advancing CE agendas (90% confirmation across both samples). The sharing of medication with other hospital pharmacies was deemed a sensible approach with 75% of the Kuwait sample favouring this. Sharing stock within UK NHS Trusts was practiced but not between Trusts. To maximise the use of products in circulation nearly half of UK participants said they repackaged medications to reduce wastage. Embracing circular economy principles in hospitals’ management of medicines waste presents a promising strategy that can not only enhance national eco-friendly supply chain management practices but also mitigate medicines waste, bolster sustainability efforts, and alleviate disposal costs. Frameworks are proposed to overcome barriers to CE and support pharmacy operational activity promoting higher levels of circular practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdullah Alshemari & Liz Breen & Gemma Quinn & Uthayasankar Sivarajah, 2025. "Towards a Sustainable Solution: The Barriers and Enablers in Adopting Circular Economy Principles for Medicines Waste Management in UK and Kuwaiti Hospitals," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 2495-2525, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:circec:v:5:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s43615-024-00498-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s43615-024-00498-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s43615-024-00498-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s43615-024-00498-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juan Cristóbal Hernández-Arzaba & Sarfraz Nazir & Sandra Nelly Leyva-Hernández & Sanar Muhyaddin, 2022. "Stakeholder Pressure Engaged with Circular Economy Principles and Economic and Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Yiğit Kazançoğlu & Muhittin Sağnak & Çisem Lafcı & Sunil Luthra & Anil Kumar & Caner Taçoğlu, 2021. "Big Data-Enabled Solutions Framework to Overcoming the Barriers to Circular Economy Initiatives in Healthcare Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Feroz Khan & Yousaf Ali, 2022. "Implementation of the circular supply chain management in the pharmaceutical industry," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 13705-13731, December.
    4. Abrar Mahjoob & Yousef Alfadhli & Vincent Omachonu, 2023. "Healthcare Waste and Sustainability: Implications for a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.
    5. Carlotta D’Alessandro & Katarzyna Szopik-Depczyńska & Małgorzata Tarczyńska-Łuniewska & Cecilia Silvestri & Giuseppe Ioppolo, 2024. "Exploring Circular Economy Practices in the Healthcare Sector: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Stuart Walker & Nick Coleman & Peter Hodgson & Nicola Collins & Louis Brimacombe, 2018. "Evaluating the Environmental Dimension of Material Efficiency Strategies Relating to the Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Prince O. Njoku & Joshua N. Edokpayi & John O. Odiyo, 2019. "Health and Environmental Risks of Residents Living Close to a Landfill: A Case Study of Thohoyandou Landfill, Limpopo Province, South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arijit Bhattacharya & Shefali Srivastava & Abhijit Majumdar, 2024. "Circular supply chains in manufacturing—Quo vadis? Accomplishments, challenges and future opportunities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4397-4423, July.
    2. Anastasios Sepetis & Konstantinos Georgantas & Ioannis Nikolaou, 2024. "A Proposed Circular Economy Model for Hospital Bio-Waste Management in Municipal Settings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Prince Obinna Njoku & Stuart Piketh & Rachel Makungo & Joshua Nosa Edokpayi, 2023. "Monitoring of Subsurface Emissions and the Influence of Meteorological Factors on Landfill Gas Emissions: A Case Study of a South African Landfill," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, March.
    4. Florian Ahrens & Lisa-Marie Nettlenbusch & Susan Krumdieck & Alexander Hasse, 2025. "Sustainable Healthcare Plastic Products: Application of the Transition Engineering Design Approach Yields a Novel Concept for Circularity and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Saja Kosanović & Mirjana Miletić & Ljubo Marković, 2021. "Energy Refurbishment of Family Houses in Serbia in Line with the Principles of Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Maria Antoniadou, 2024. "Integrating Lean Management and Circular Economy for Sustainable Dentistry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-25, November.
    7. Rupesh Kumar & Deepak Bangwal, 2023. "An assessment of sustainable supply chain initiatives in Indian automobile industry using PPS method," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9703-9729, September.
    8. Tanzila Akmal & Faisal Jamil, 2021. "Testing the Role of Waste Management and Environmental Quality on Health Indicators Using Structural Equation Modeling in Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    9. Polle, Mareike, 2024. "Reusable packaging systems for restaurants and delivery services: A study of consumer preferences and adoption barriers," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 9(4), pages 1994-2023.
    10. Zhong, Ziqi & Zhao, Elena Yifei, 2024. "Collaborative driving mode of sustainable marketing and supply chain management supported by metaverse technology," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121160, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Kazim Topuz & Timothy L. Urban & Robert A. Russell & Mehmet B. Yildirim, 2024. "Decision support system for appointment scheduling and overbooking under patient no-show behavior," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 342(1), pages 845-873, November.
    12. Michael Saidani & Harrison Kim, 2022. "Nexus Between Life Cycle Assessment, Circularity, and Sustainability Indicators—Part I: a Review," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 1143-1156, September.
    13. Einara Blanco Machin & Daniel Travieso Pedroso & Daviel Gómez Acosta & Maria Isabel Silva dos Santos & Felipe Solferini de Carvalho & Adrian Blanco Machín & Matías Abner Neira Ortíz & Reinaldo Sánchez, 2022. "Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Energetic Valorization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Laura Tolettini & Eleonora Di Maria, 2023. "Structuring and Measuring Environmental Sustainability in the Steel Sector: A Single Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-26, April.
    15. Harlinda binti Hamid & Noormazlinah binti Ahmad & Siti Hajar Noor binti Shaarani, 2025. "The Role of Industrial Waste in Green and Sustainable Technology: A Review," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(3), pages 4997-5012, March.
    16. Anna Schulte & Daniel Maga & Nils Thonemann, 2021. "Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Assessment to Analyze Environmental Impacts of the Medical Remanufacturing of Electrophysiology Catheters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    17. Fan Zhang & Zhe Huang & Li Dong, 2024. "A differential game model based on the government subsidy strategy considering the green pharmaceutical problem and the goodwill of the company," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(10), pages 25281-25309, October.
    18. Anna Manuella Melo Nunes & Luiz Moreira Coelho Junior & Raphael Abrahão & Edvaldo Pereira Santos Júnior & Flávio José Simioni & Paulo Rotella Junior & Luiz Célio Souza Rocha, 2023. "Public Policies for Renewable Energy: A Review of the Perspectives for a Circular Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-28, January.
    19. Aristea Kounani & Alexandra Pavloudi & Stamatis Aggelopoulos, 2024. "Performance indicators of circular economy in the agriculture and food industry," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 380-397, June.
    20. Fu Haw Ho & Salwa Hanim Abdul-Rashid & Raja Ariffin Raja Ghazilla & Yoke Ling Woo, 2019. "Resources Sustainability through Material Efficiency Strategies: An Insight Study of Electrical and Electronic Companies," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:circec:v:5:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s43615-024-00498-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.